1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a system for determining information about the movement of a golf club and/or a golf ball, and other similar objects.
2. Description of the Related Art
The remarkable, often astonishing, physical skills and feats of great athletes draw millions of people every day to follow sports that range from the power of football to the grace of figure skating, from the speed of ice hockey to the precision of golf. Sports fans are captivated by the abilities of a basketball player to soar to the rafters, of a baseball pitcher to overwhelm the best hitters in the world, a golfer to reach the green with a long and accurate drive, of a runner to explode down the track, etc. In televising these events, broadcasters have deployed a varied repertoire of technologiesxe2x80x94ranging from slow-motion replay to lipstick-sized cameras mounted on helmetsxe2x80x94to highlight for viewers these extraordinary talents. Not only are fans intrigued and excited by the efforts of athletes, their comparative abilities become topics of endless debate at water coolers, in sports bars, on the Internet, etc.
One piece of information that has never been readily and reliably available to fans of sports like golf is the speed that a golfer swings a club and the speed of the ball after being hit. Such information will not only create a statistic that reflects a critical athletic skill, but will also provide announcers with information that will enhance their analysis of the game. Subtle variations in different players"" swings, now verifiable, may explain driving success. This information will be of tremendous interest to golf fans, and to date there have been no successful attempts to provide such information during the telecast of a game. Club speed and ball speed will quickly join other popular statistics like running speed and throwing distance in adding to viewers"" appreciation of an athletic event.
There has been an attempt to measure and report golf club speed in the past. However, the prior art system was not accurate or reliable. This prior art system measured speed using a single radar that is positioned by the golfer.
Therefore, a system is needed that can determine the speed of a golf club and/or golf ball at desired times with sufficient accuracy to be of interest to a viewer of an event.
The present invention, roughly described, provides for a system for determining the speed of a golf club and/or golf ball. The determined speed can be reported in a format suitable for use on a television broadcast, radio broadcast, the Internet or another medium, etc. Additionally, the information can be made available to another software process or function, or another computer. Various embodiments of the present invention can also be used to measure information regarding the movement of other moving objects.
One method for practicing the invention includes automatically detecting the occurrence of a first event and determining the speed of an object during the first event. By automatically, it is meant that a human is not needed to detect the occurrence of the first event. The event detected could be the swinging of a golf club, a club hitting a ball, the movement of the ball, etc. The system can determine the speed of a ball after being hit, or at another time. The system can also determine the speed of a club during a swing, at the moment it hit a ball, or at various instants during a swing.
In one embodiment, the system includes sensing radar data using two or more radar units and storing that radar data. The radar units may provide data for multiple objects in motion. In one example, the present invention determines which data represents the swing of a club or the movement of the ball. Once the proper data is identified, the identified data is used to determine the speed of the club or ball. The present invention can also be used to determine when a club hit a ball and the speed of the club at that moment and/or other moments. In one embodiment, the system includes a set of two or more radars positioned behind the ball and pointing toward the ball along the intended path of the ball. Data from the radars is collected and sent to a computer which can determine the speeds and other information.
These and other objects and advantages of the invention will appear more clearly from the following detailed description in which the preferred embodiment of the invention has been set forth in conjunction with the drawings.